Chapter 52: Please Ascend the Throne

Nalan Ruyue understood and gestured, signaling that she and Yue Xi would go upstairs first, leaving them to talk.

Yue Xi clicked her tongue but didn't object. As she was about to get up, Li Nianlong held her and Nalan Ruyue down.

In the astonished gazes of the two girls, Li Nianlong calmly but firmly said, "Nothing I have to say is unsuitable for others to hear, especially not to my family. There's no need for me to hide anything from them."

In the past, Li Nianlong had always told the two girls, "I consider you as my family."

However, too many people claimed to see someone as family but excluded them when problems arose. The girls' choice to step back stemmed from their deep-rooted disbelief that Li Nianlong truly considered them family.

But at this moment, Li Nianlong was demonstrating through action that they were indeed his family and that he wouldn't hide anything from them.

"Big Brother…" Li Nianlong's trust deeply moved Yue Xi, who hugged his arm tightly. "I like you the most."

A glimmer of heart-touch flashed across Nalan Ruyue's eyes, and she smiled gently, sitting back down and looking at Shao Meiyun with a calm gaze.

Shao Meiyun gave a wry smile. "Very well, but you must promise not to divulge this to anyone. It doesn't matter for me, but it will only bring harm to you if it gets out."

"We're not blabbermouths; how could we possibly tell anyone?" Yue Xi snorted lightly, then turned to Li Nianlong with a grin. "Right, Big Brother?"

"Yes," Li Nianlong smiled faintly and tousled her hair.

"Meow…" Yue Xi clung to Li Nianlong, looking utterly adorable.

Nalan Ruyue nodded gently and signed, "Our lips are sealed. We won't speak out of turn. Ms. Shao can rest assured on this point."

After hearing Li Nianlong translate, Shao Meiyun gave a soft affirmation. "Actually, this matter is an absolute secret for the Liu Family. Right now, only the Old Patriarch and I are aware of it. I hope you'll take what I'm about to say seriously."

Given Shao Meiyun's solemn tone, the trio tensed up and nodded vigorously.

"Li Nianlong…" Shao Meiyun composed herself, looked at Li Nianlong, and opened with a statement that stunned everyone present. "I am here to invite you to inherit the position of Liu Family's Patriarch."

Boom—

"I am here to invite you to inherit the position of Liu Family's Patriarch."

These words were like a nuclear bomb dropped into calm waters, leaving Li Nianlong, Nalan Ruyue, and Yue Xi's heads ringing, their mouths agape. They stared at Shao Meiyun, wondering if she had forgotten to take her medication.

The highest ruler of Tianfu, the acting head of the Liu Family who controlled the city-state's military and political powers, was telling a common citizen, "I am here to invite you to inherit the Liu Family's Patriarch position."

Could anyone believe this was real?

Li Nianlong, Nalan Ruyue, and Yue Xi were all dumbfounded, unable to utter a word. Shao Meiyun looked at them silently, savoring her tea, and for a moment, the entire living room fell into a dead silence.

After several breaths, Li Nianlong snapped back to reality, slapped his cheeks, took a deep breath, and looked at the smiling Shao Meiyun, saying sternly, "Ms. Shao, this joke isn't funny."

"I wouldn't joke about such matters," Shao Meiyun put away her smile, displaying the authority of the Liu Family's acting head. "Nor would I waste my precious time on a common citizen."

Li Nianlong remained silent.

Just as Shao Meiyun said, it was impossible for her to waste time on someone like him, a commoner. Moreover, Shao Meiyun had shown unusual familiarity and approachability towards him from the start. This was clearly abnormal. If the reason was for him to inherit the Liu Family's Patriarch position, everything made sense, but the problem was...

"Has Ms. Shao made a mistake? Although I have the surname Liu, I'm not part of the Liu Family…"

"No, you are!" Shao Meiyun interrupted him, speaking earnestly. "You are a Liu. Your grandmother Qin Yu was once the Old Patriarch's lover. She later gave birth to your mother Li Ying, but due to certain reasons, Qin Yu left the Old Patriarch with your mother, and they vanished without a trace.

Recent investigations revealed that Qin Yu left Tianfu alone after your mother married your father, and her whereabouts remain unknown. You were born the year after Qin Yu left, making you the Old Patriarch's biological grandson."

Hearing these inside details, Li Nianlong was stunned speechless. Nalan Ruyue and Yue Xi also gaped at him in shock, never imagining Li Nianlong was actually of Liu Family blood.

Shao Meiyun smiled easily, saying, "Fortunately, you took your mother's surname after birth. If you had an outside surname, the position of Liu Family's Patriarch would truly be unrelated to you. Perhaps this is destiny!"

Hearing this, Li Nianlong sneered inwardly: What destiny? It's just that my mother couldn't enter the Long Family's door. If Long Zongheng were dead, my identity would be the Long Family's crown prince, wouldn't I be far more prestigious than a Liu?

Wait a minute...

Li Nianlong suddenly froze.

Long Zongheng is dead? Long Family's crown prince?

Li Nianlong suddenly understood the profound reason behind Long Zongheng's attempts to kill him. It wasn't because he was cold-blooded but because he was protecting himself. Once he died, Li Nianlong would become the first in line for inheritance; how could he not take precautions?

So that's how it is… It's like that…

Putting himself in Long Zongheng's shoes, his actions were logical and faultless.

For a moment, Li Nianlong's hatred and desire to kill Long Zongheng lessened, but Uncle Guan's figure suddenly appeared in his mind, jolting Li Nianlong back. His softened heart hardened again.

Whatever, Long Zongheng was the culprit who killed Uncle Guan. I must avenge him!

"But something's not right!" Amidst the silence, Yue Xi suddenly spoke, interrupting Li Nianlong's thoughts.

He turned to look at her, and Yue Xi said, "At most, Big Brother is just the Old Patriarch's grandson. Even if he still bears the surname Liu, he's not qualified to succeed as the Patriarch. Have you got the wrong person?"

When this matter was brought up, Shao Meiyun's smile faded, replaced by a helpless expression. "Under normal circumstances, the Liu Family's Patriarch position indeed wouldn't go to Menglong, but you must have heard about the massacre at the Liu Manor last month, right?"

All three nodded. News of such magnitude was known to everyone, and Yue Xi herself had been a participant—she had personally taken down the Liu Family Patriarch and his two sons, while the Old Patriarch's severe injuries were the work of Yue Chang.

Seeing that they were aware of the incident, Shao Meiyun continued slowly, "Since the massacre, the Old Patriarch has designated two other successors, but without exception, they were both assassinated the day after assuming the position, and within the heavily guarded Liu Manor."

At this point, a hint of hatred flashed in Shao Meiyun's eyes. "Those assassins are terrifying, coming and going without a trace. The Liu Family was nearly destroyed by their hands."

Hearing this, a smug glint flickered in Yue Xi's eyes: Of course, our Chang Xi duo is not just for show.

While Yue Xi was pleased, Shao Meiyun was bitterly aghast. "Since then, every eligible candidate for the Liu Family Patriarch position has feared it like a tiger. It was only half a month ago that another dared to attempt taking the position, with the entire security force of Liu Manor providing round-the-clock protection. Yet, they too were killed within the manor the next morning... After that, no member of the Liu Family has dared to covet the seat of power. A once supreme position has turned into a hot potato, pitiful and lamentable."

"Damn it!" Shao Meiyun's sigh filled Yue Xi with rage, causing her to jump up and point at Shao Meiyun, shouting, "You keep talking about wanting Big Brother to become the Patriarch, but you're actually sending him to his death!?"

Nalan Ruyue's expression changed, her new found good-feeling for Shao Meiyun instantly shattered. Li Nianlong's face darkened, and he sneered, "No wonder such a big pie fell onto my head. The pie is real, but it's laced with deadly poison."

Sensing the intense hostility, Shao Meiyun calmly replied, "Where there is great risk, there is great reward. No pies in the world come easily, let alone the power over the entire Liu Family."

Pausing, Shao Meiyun looked at Li Nianlong with sincerity in her eyes. "I know this is a difficult decision, so I won't force you. But understand this: the blood of the Liu Family flows in your veins. It did before, it does now, and it always will. 

As a member of the Liu Family, with the family in crisis, if you possess any semblance of a man's responsibility, you should bravely step forward, uphold the collapsing mansion, and right the capsizing ship."